The Animal Within
by Puppypaws104
Summary: Yugi is going through some forced changes, after learning what he is he needs Yami's help. But can he convince him? Story includes magic, demons, transformations, killing, hard yaoi. Later will be rated M for good reason
1. Chapter 1

Ever since Yugi could remember his mind was plagued with visions and dreams of animal warriors, vampires and mythical creatures. He often tried to convince himself that there had to be more to life than just…this. Everything was so boring, so laid out before you. You went to school, worked then died. Shouldn't it be more than that? He got into magic practices, reading things like the Kabbalah, The Power Within, Celtic Wisdom, The Secret Teaching of all Ages, My Life with the Spirits and so much more. All of which he read more than three times.  
>He found all of it fascinating and a lot of it even seemed plausible. He dwelled with in his new found information and went off on it wanting to learn more. He wanted to be able reach full enlightenment. He started to see things, angles and demons alike. He even caught glimpses of mythical creatures. He learned that most people were an animal on the inside. A reflection of their first life. He learned shortly after that he was wolf. His friend Joey was a coyote. And his new friend who had just moved to Domino from Egypt was also a wolf. Gradually being able to tell who was animal and who was not became easier and after that he could even tell you what specific animal they were without trying. The others who were not animals were usually human or sometimes vampire.<br>He felt like everything was becoming clearer, he was happier within this new belief.  
>After his new found abilities he started to perform magic. Simple ones at first, such as getting it to rain, but then he started summoning spells, element spells, and others.<br>He never told anyone, he feared everyone would think he was some kind of devil worshiper. When that could not be farther from the truth. There was black magic and white magic, Yugi did white. He wished he had someone to talk to about it, but for now the spirits kept him content. They taught him, his spirit guides and animal guides they had all taught him so much. He felt like he was getting close to learning it all but somehow he knew that that was impossible, there could always be room to learn more.

"Hey, so, we hanging out after school?" Yami whispered into Yugi's ear. They were both in the last class of the day. He looked over with a smile and nodded.  
>"Joey too?" Yami asked again. Yugi got in a short nod before the teacher snapped at them. They sunk into their chairs saying their apologies. Yami growled something of an insult that Yugi didn't quite catch. He only smiled and watched as the teacher drew more math equations on the board. Yami and Yugi had been friends for only a few months, about six actually. It's funny, but Yugi was drawn to the teen the minute he walked into the class room. Maybe it was his looks, he was strikingly similar to him, he had sharper features then he, and his hair was tipped with crimson, like his eyes, rather than a lavender color like Yugi's had. He wanted badly to call him his but Yami was straight. He was dating a girl named Anzu. Oh how he hated her. Whenever they hung out alone she always accused Yami of cheating and always ended up on his doorstep crying.<br>Finally the bell rung to end class and luckily the teacher had forgotten to give out the homework assignment. Yami and Yugi quickly rushed out the door before she remembered.  
>"Uhg I hate that class, I never understand what she is saying." Yugi complained as they headed down the hall to the exit where they would meet up with Joey. Yami chuckled deeply "Well if you need help you know you can ask me." He said with a smug smile. Yami was good at math, he was one of the few people to actually have an A in it. Yugi felt a small blush form as he looked up at him.<p>

The sun was warm and the wind brought up the smell of the grass. Yugi sighed he loved being outside. The two stood just outside the gate of the school waiting for their blonde friend. Yugi was listening to everyone jabber on about the day, he listened to the cars rumble by and the wind ripping it way through the leaves of the trees.  
>"It's a peaceful day today…" Yugi sighed out almost dreamily. Yami grunted an agreement.<br>"Hey guys!"  
>Yugi looked over behind him to see Joey running toward them.<br>"Thought you got lost." Yami teased. Joey gave him the 'shut up' look but ended with a smile "I had to talk to Mr. Harris after class." After their short discussion and making sure Joey wasn't causing trouble the three headed down to the park.  
>The park was disserted since elementary wasn't out yet. Joey and Yugi ran over to the Jungle gym which was in the form of a bubble. That's what they even called it 'The Bubble' it was good memories for the two. Yugi immediately shot inside and sat in the middle as if it was his den while Joey ran up the side like a monkey. The bubble was surrounded by small rocks to soften any blow made by a kid falling. Yugi picked up a few and threw them at Joey "Intruder! Yami help!" Yugi cried. Yami ducked inside with a stick he had found and made an attempt to poke Joey like it was a sword.<br>"Intruder! More like you're my prisoners!" Joey laughed "Now be good prisoners and sit!"  
>"We will do no such thing!" Yami said and got on his hands and knees in time to avoid a swipe of Joey's hands. Yugi giggled and landing on his hands and knees as well next to the taller teen. Joey gave a fake growl and started to climb toward them in an attempt to pester his 'prisoners'<br>"Ah! He's coming! To the exit!" Yugi screamed and started to crawl quickly to the nearest exit. Yami followed. Yugi quickly got out followed by Yami and they made a dash for it.  
>"God were such kids!" Yami laughed and looked back to see Joey scramble off the bubble and run after them.<br>"It's fun!" Yugi said laughing. They three were seventeen but reliving childhood memories was always fun.  
>Yugi screamed out as Joey's arms wrapped around his waist and started to drag him back.<br>"Yami! He's got me!" He cried.

After their bit at the park the three had gotten a bite to eat before each going separate ways to home. Yugi couldn't help but stare as Yami walked off.

"I'm home!" Yugi called into the darkened game shop. It was about nine now, a little later then he thought he would be home but he knew his grandfather wouldn't mind. He flicked on a light in the kitchen "Grandpa?" no answer.  
>Yugi hummed in thought before spotting a note on the fridge.<br>'Went out to meet with an old friend who just came to town. Exciting! I don't know when I'll be back. There is food on the fridge and emergency numbers next to the phone. Be good! And if you could pick up the living room that would be great.' Yugi sighed and threw away the note before going to the living room to pick up random pop cans and his jackets.  
>"Well now what?" he asked himself quietly as he headed up to his room, his arms full with his jackets in nearly all colors. Kicking open his door and setting the clothes on his already messy bed he noticed one of his favorite books, the Kabbalah.<br>"Maybe… There was a few more theories I still wanted to read over again." He whispered to himself. And with that he grabbed the worn out book and went down the stairs to make himself comfortable on the couch. Everything was so quiet, the lights gave a small droning buzz and the air was still. He opened the book but his mind went else were 'I wish I could remember my past lives…' he thought.  
>'I always feel like there is more to me…I'm probably just stroking my ego though…' He thought with a sigh. And he knew that wasn't good. For one to become enlightened they had to let go of their ego.<br>'Well, I know I'm a wolf…What does a wolf represent?' He questioned. He let his eyes drift to the window and noticed the dark storm clouds over head making the outside world darker than usual. 'I guess their strong…' he thought but looked down at his small form 'ya, I guess that's a trait I didn't get… um smart…? Uhg I don't know, but there has to be more! What am I missing?' He growled in his head. He stood up and went to the bathroom. Leaning on the counter he stared intensely in his eyes like he would find something there. It took a few minutes but he started to have small flickering visions of wolves running through the woods, then the next it would contain explosions and death. He sighed and suddenly felt a sharp pain on his head "Ow!" he squeaked and held both hands on the side of his head "That was weird."  
>Deciding it would just be best to take a bath he quick drew out the hot water and poured some lavender bath salt rocks. Lavender was one of his favorite smells, and on top of that the bath salts made his skin soft.<p>

The water wrapped around his pale form massaging his muscles. He sighed with pleasure and sunk deeper into the lavender smelling liquid. He closed his amethyst colored eyes and started to concentrate on wolf anatomy, hoping if he thought about wolves then some kind of memory from a past life would be triggered. He felt his muscle start to tense but he disregarded it and forced them to relax again but each time they only tensed more.  
>His legs started to twitch and this time Yugi couldn't stop it, his arms did the same. His muscles were freaking out on him. He opened his eyes when sharp pain rammed itself down his lower back and his head.<br>"Ah!" he squeaked and sat up, the pain was starting to burn. He rubbed a hand on his lower back hoping to sooth the pain but that only seemed to make it worse so he stopped. He put water over his head to try and sooth the burning sensation but nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw what was being washed away with the water. Blood.  
>'What…' he lifted his hand and ran it through his black hair. When he looked at his hand it had blood on nearly all of it. Standing up quickly he went to the front of the mirror and wiped off what he could of the condensation with his none- bloody hand. Blood was running down his face. He instantly wrapped a towel around his waist and ran downstairs to call 911.<br>He was still soaking wet and left a path of water with each step. Shivers when up his spine when he heard a sickening rip sound and the pain to come with it brought him to tears and made him release a scream. He looked back to see that what he thought was water dripping off of him was actually blood.  
>"Oh god, what's wrong with me?" he screamed dropping the phone and stepping away from the blood. He didn't know what to do or what was happening. The sight of his blood started to make him dizzy and his vision started to black out around the edges.<br>'no, no, no, no do not faint!' he screamed in his head. But he felt the floor connect with his side and then darkness wrapped around him.

When Yugi woke back up the first thing his eyes connected with was of course blood. His head had continued to bleed but it looked dry now telling him that it had at least stopped. His muscled screamed their protest when he moved to get up but he pushed through that pain and got himself in a sitting position. He was near the kitchen.  
>He pushed himself up and stumbled his way into the small room to look at the clock on the stove. It read 3:47 AM.<br>"I've been out for awhile…" he whispered to himself.  
>"What happened to me…?"<br>He looked back at his own trail of blood and winced 'guess I should take a shower and then clean this all up.' He thought. He didn't know how bloody his hair and face was but he knew it couldn't be good.

Shielding his eyes from the mirror in the bathroom he quickly turned the shower head on and jumped in. The warm water soothed his sore muscles and he saw blood being rinsed away. Suddenly he felt something furry brush against his calves and he quickly spun around, terror leaping into his chest. But he didn't see anything.  
>He eyed the walls of the shower with suspicion and continued to wash. He felt another swipe against his calves and he snapped his head around. He looked down, it was nearly covered in blood but it had gray fur patches sticking out. And it was connected to him.<br>For a second Yugi couldn't comprehend what it was. It twitched and swayed back and forth. A Tail. It was a tail!  
>Yugi let out another shrill scream and tried to get away from it. Mustering up the courage he grabbed it and started to yank but pain ran up his spine. After a good inspection he carefully began to wash his newly found tail. It was rather sensitive and after all the blood was washed away he found that it was silver on top and under it was a cream white color.<br>After his new limb was washed of all blood he washed his hair. His hands bumped into something flexible but hard. He softly ran his hands up and down the length of these two mounds and found them to be triangular.  
>One twitched and his eyes widened, nearly ripping the shower curtain he jumped out of the shower and skidded over to the mirror. Ears. Dog ears. He ran his hands over them again softly "T-this isn't happening… No, I'm dreaming… I fell asleep in the bathtub earlier. That explains it!" he laughed out "Ok time to wake up." He lifted his hand and harshly slapped himself across the face. A stinging pain over took his cheek but other than that nothing happened.<br>"I-it's not a d-dream…" He stuttered. He started at the mirror in horror. How was he going to go to school now? How was he going to face anyone again? How was he going to do anything?  
>Upon further inspection he found that his teeth had grown too and so had his nails, his nails had also started to point and were much sturdier. He found he couldn't bend them at all.<br>"It's like they almost turned into…claws…"  
>Yugi finished his shower in a hurry and then dried himself off completely, he had gone into a state of shock. His movements seemed robotic, he sat against the wall of the bathroom with his knees to his chest and his head buried in his arms. He wanted to cry but somehow, after everything that had happened started to sink in he felt too tired to cry, he just wanted to sleep now. He hugged his knees closer in an attempt to comfort himself.<br>After awhile a knock on the bathroom door made him jump. It must be Grandpa! 'Oh no, what I'm I going to do about Grandpa? I hadn't even thought of that!'  
>"Yugi? You in there?" a slurred voice came from the other side of the door.<br>'I guess Grandpa had some fun with his friend.' Yugi thought. It didn't bother him, his grandfather needed to let lose every once and awhile.  
>"Y-yes, Grandpa…I'm here." Yugi called back.<br>The door handle started to shake and fear climbed up his spine "Don't come in!" he shouted, he quickly crawled to the door and locked it swiftly before the elder could open it. Yugi pressed his fore head against the white door "Please…just go to bed, I'm ok." He called back his voice getting smaller and smaller. He looked behind him and saw his clothes in a messy pile next to the wall. His tail swished and his ears twitched as he waited but he eventually heard Solomon walk away.  
>He crawled over to his clothes and put on his boxers. His tail was suddenly crowded in one of the pant legs and twitched trying to get free. The feeling of the fur on his legs made him smile because it tickled. He pulled his boxers down lower then usually and let his tail out, but deciding he didn't like that he took off the boxers and put them on backwards lacing the tail through the hole that was in front.<br>"This isn't going to work…but it will have to do for now until I know what happened and how to change it…"  
>'What am I going to do? There is no way I can cast a spell for transformation alone… it would take too much energy… I need another…' he reasoned in his head already trying to plan out how to get this reversed 'but who could help me? Grandpa will be out of the question, he is drunk and I can't wait until tomorrow…'<br>Yugi snuck over to his room with the rest of his clothes gathered in his hands. The only person that kept running through his head was Yami. All he could think of who to help him was Yami.  
>"But surely he is asleep…I guess I can wait until morning and then go over there early and have him ditch with me…" Yugi whispered thinking to himself again.<br>He walked back over to the door and closed it locking it just in case his grandpa made a late night visit or walked in on him in the morning. There was nothing left to do but sleep now, so Yugi set his alarm clock and crawled into bed. Though, he had to switch his positions and few times in order to try and make his new tail comfortable.


	2. Chapter 2

Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep.  
>Yugi groaned as the annoying ring of the alarm clock came to his over sensitive wolf ears. He slammed his hand on the alarm clock a little more forcefully then he would have liked and jumped when he heard it crack. The beeping of the clock stopped, but so did everything else.<br>"Oh no! I broke it!" he squeaked picking it up. Yugi narrowed his amethyst colored eyes 'how did I brake it…?' he thought. Once fully awake he realized that it shouldn't have broke just because he slapped it. Did more transformations happen over night? Yugi growled and tossed the clock to the corner of the room 'why is this happening to ME?' he screamed in his head. The air outside of the covers was cold and it made him shiver, winter was coming soon. The coldness of the air somehow made him feel better 'it's ok, I'll talk to Yami today and all of this can be changed.' He thought to himself with a deep breath.  
>He picked up a black t-shirt with some light blue jeans, making sure to pick baggy jeans since he couldn't just leave his tail out in the open. It made his tail feel crowded and somehow, it made him feel out of balance. 'Well, I guess the reason animals like wolves and tigers have tails is for balance, so did I gain more balance with the tail?' he thought has he moved over to his desk. He looked outside the window; the sky was still pink and orange from the sun rise, but due to his solemn mood. Everything seemed to be dimmer.<br>He perked his ears and heard bird calls louder and clearer than before. He also heard the starting of cars, the soft wind, and a yowling cat. All sounds he had never really noticed before, although these sounds aren't quiet he had just never heard them with such clarity. They all seemed to be right next to him. His ears swiveled when he hear the soft pat of feet on the hard wood floor followed by a knock "Yugi? You up?" his grandpa asked.  
>"Yes, I'm up." He called back "Just to let you know grandpa, I have to go to school early today." His grandpa said that was fine and left back into the direction of bed. 'Probably to sleep off the hang over.' He thought with a snicker.<br>The teen hung his head down with a heavy sigh "Yami will help me. Yami will help me…" he said to himself over and over, just trying to settle the nerves that were sprouting in his stomach. With a deep breath he grabbed a white jacket and threw it on. He pulled the hood up and over his ears, being silently grateful his hair stood up on its own or else his ears might have actually been noticeable through the hood of his jacket.  
>He unlocked the door and peeked through to look down the hall way everything seemed to be quiet. Yugi ran down the stairs and put his shoes on in a hurry, for some reason he felt the need to be quick even though he knew his grandpa had gone back to bed. Opening the front door as quietly as he could the small teen stepped out into the bitter cold air of Domino. He let himself have another sigh as if he had just disabled a bomb.<br>"Right then…to Yami's house." He stated to himself.

The sun was fully up when Yugi finally reached his friends house, school would be starting soon and he had to convince Yami to skip today. Yugi looked up and down the white house, the lawn was slightly over grown and the stairs leading to the house were chipped. Somehow these imperfections in the house comforted Yugi, it made him feel like he didn't have to be perfect for Yami.  
>The front door creaked open and it nearly made Yugi jump out of his skin. Yami stepped out and turned around to lock the door, he didn't seem to have noticed him yet. Yugi smiled and jogged up to him "Yami!" he called the smile getting bigger. Yami turned around upon hearing his name "Oh, it's you Yugi; I would have thought you headed straight for school." He said with a small sleepy smile before turning to his door again and giggling his key out. Yugi giggled to himself, Yami looked as if he had just gotten up. But just as quickly as the smile came it left. He frowned deeply and looked down gripping the hem of his shirt. Yami looked down as well "You're not in school uniform?" he stated but was obviously a question as to 'why'.<br>"Oh, uh…no, I'm not going to school today…I-I needed to talk to you…" he said meekly. A concerned expression over took the taller teen "What's wrong Yugi, you can tell me anything." He reassured.  
>'Gods, I hope so…' Yugi thought.<br>Yami stayed quiet, he knew Yugi was just thinking of the best way to tell him whatever it was. Deciding it was best to start from the beginning he spilled everything. About how he practiced magic, his and Yami's inner wolves, spells, past lives, the books he read "And now, last night, something happened to me." He nearly finished, he removed his hands from his shirt and lifted them to his hood but before he could pull it down he heard Yami's voice "Are you crazy?" he asked sounding almost in disbelief. Yugi looked at Yami in shock "No, I…" Yugi started but was interrupted "You're insane…" Yami whispered. He looked sad and concerned for Yugi. The smaller teen felt tears form in his eyes "No, Yami…Please…" Yami shook his head and raised a hand for him to be quiet.  
>"Yugi, I think…you have a lot of stress in your life…which we can talk about later…" he started, he didn't sound sure of himself though "So, please just go home and sleep off whatever you are on." He nearly growled. Yami thought he was on drugs? Yugi's eyes widened but he couldn't say anything. Yami walked past him but Yugi couldn't bring himself to move, to call back to him, tell him he was wrong. He felt frozen.<br>"Yami…didn't believe me…?" he whispered hoarsely as if he had been screaming. Warm tears slid down the side of his face, he had just spilled his guts out for the first time and he was rejected. It felt as if though his heart would burst from the over whelming depression that was taking over him.  
>"Now he'll never speak to me again!" he cried as he slid down to his knees and put his face in his hands. His ears dropped and the tears came harder. Gods, why did this hurt so much?<br>Slowly Yugi turned at the waist to see if Yami was coming back, he wanted so badly for him to try and explain it again. But the older teen was nowhere to be seen. Yugi sniffled and used his sleeves to wipe the tears away but they only came back harder. His chest hurt and now he was lost. He didn't know what to do.  
>'I can't stay here…' he finally thought to himself. He slowly got up from Yami's lawn and started to walk down the side walk. He wasn't sure where he was going but he couldn't just sit there, he needed to be doing something.<br>He somehow came up on the park Yami, Joey and he played at. More tears fell from his eyes and he walked to the nearest park bench "I wonder what time it is." He asked himself with hiccups. He wiped his eyes again and walked around to the swing. He sat down but instantly regretted it when a yelp came from his mouth as all of his weight came down on his tail. He quickly stood and sniffled again with a sigh "Stupid thing…" he growled looking backwards. He wandered around to the big oak tree and made sure to reposition his tail before sliding down the trunk.  
>He moved his tail to the side of his leg and it made a weird bulge but he didn't care at the moment.<br>"Oh gods, what have I done?" he whispered to himself, he just lost his first hard crush, and a good friend. The thought of losing Yami made his stomach turn and more tears flow down from his eyes. He hugged his knees close before pulling his arms in the space between his stomach and legs. He laid his forehead on his knees and sniffled. He thought about all the happy memories he shared with Yami when he first came here, was all of that really gone? And before he knew it he fell asleep.

"Yugi?" came the soft question, but his mind still swam in sleep making the call seem distant.  
>"Yugi!" the call came again louder and more worried. He felt a nudge at his should but the only thing he could do was groan. He heard a sigh of relief before the voice came again "Yugi, are you ok?" it took a second but his mind finally processed the voice to be Joey's. Amethyst eyes opened slowly, his body was stiff from sleeping on the cold ground, it looked to be about evening, the sun was just about down. The sky was painted pink and orange. He heard crows calling before fluttering off behind Joey's head.<br>"Joey? Why are you here?" he asked.  
>"I should be asking you that!" Joey exclaimed "I have been looking everywhere for you! You weren't at school and when I went to go and check on you, your grandfather said you had left early and hadn't come back since!" he explained, the blonde was obviously a bit frazzled.<br>"Joey, Joey, calm down. I've been here the whole time." He said 'had I really slept the day away?' he thought. That was unlike him…  
>It was quiet for a second before Joey spoke again "You look like you have been crying…" he observed. Yugi looked back at his friend "Oh? Does it…I don't know why…" he said slowly. Joey repositioned himself into an Indian style sit "Come on Yugi, spit it out."<br>Yugi sat up himself, he must have fallen over in sleep "Joey…" He started but immediately cut off and went on to something else "How was Yami today?" he asked quietly.  
>"Yami? Well…now that you mention it, he did seem a little upset today. He didn't talk much like usually." Joey said "Why? Did you guys have a fight? Is that why you didn't come to school? And why you look like your upset, and crying? Why did you-" Joey was cut off.<br>"Joey, Joey, one question at a time!" Yugi said raising his voice to overpower Joey's. The blonde sighed deeply and nodded a little "Ok, first question then. Did you two have a fight. And be honest!" Joey warned. Yugi tried to lean against the tree but a whine almost broke free from his mouth.  
>'Stupid thing!' he growled in his head 'It must have moved back when I laid down on my side.'<br>He started to wiggle around uncomfortably trying to move his tail again "Uh well, I guess you could say we did…" he finally spat out as he kept wiggling his tail around. Joey gave him a odd look "What's the matter with you?" he asked. Yugi stopped almost immediately "Nothing." He said dryly as if to say "Don't ask again." Joey hummed in thought for a moment and frowned "Well, ok. So, what was the fight about…?" he asked again.  
>Yugi's heart picked up in pace 'I can't lose another friend!' he shouted in his mind. Joey waited patiently for his answer. Just the thought of their conversation brought tears to his eyes again. His friend seemed to have taken notice and quickly moved closer pulling him into a side hug "shhh, it's ok Yugi." He cooed softly.<br>"J-Joey, I messed up! I messed up s-so bad!" Yugi blurted out. Joey started to rub his back softly "I'm sure it's not that bad. All ya have to do is say 'sorry' right?" he asked. Yugi nuzzled into his friend "It's not that simple, Joey!" Yugi cried. And without anymore thought to it he ripped away from his friend and tore off his own hood.  
>"See! I need help, Joey! But he d-didn't believe me!" he snapped. At this point he didn't care if he lost anymore friends, why would it matter anyway? Joey looked over at Yugi a little shocked but he couldn't tell if it was because his tone of voice or the obvious. Did he even believe they were real? Without any more thought Yugi told Joey the same story he had told Yami. His emotions where in a whirl, he seemed to be everything at once. Joey was silent after he had finally got done telling his whole story. He lifted a hand to his ears and petted the soft fur that was there, probably trying to find some kind of head band or clip but when he found none he pulled away.<br>"You…You aren't kidding are you?" he finally asked slowly. Yugi looked back over at his friend with tearful eyes and shook his head 'no'. It was a lot more awkward then Yugi would have liked it but who could blame his friend? The boy just found out his friend was a wolf for god's sake!  
>"Well…Do, do you think you can fix it?" Joey asked sounding a little unsure. Yugi again shook his head "I'm not sure if I can fix this, Joey…" he whispered looking back down at the ground "All I do know is that the spell to fix it would cost me at the very least two people for energy." He explained. He felt a hand on his shoulder "Well, I'll help you anyway I can." He said full of confidence. Yugi snapped his head back up and felt tears of joy roll down his face. He lunged himself at Joey to give him a hug "Oh thank you, Joey!" he sobbed.<p>

The two had snuck to Joey's apartment; it was dark out with only the stars to light their path. Yugi looked up 'it's a new moon…' he thought almost sadly. He suddenly got worried were they going to have to wait for the full moon if this didn't work now? Wolf magic was strong but only when the moon was out and with no moon at all wolf magic was almost impossible. Joey lead his friend inside, the place smelled of alcohol and cigarettes, he hadn't noticed till now but his sense of smell was getting stronger which told him he was slowly but surely transforming.  
>Yugi lowered his hood and perked his ears. He didn't hear Joey's dad anywhere, his ears twitched when Joey stepped on a beer can walking towards him "They are gone." He said answering his silent question. He nodded and followed his blonde friend to his room. Once he closed the door Yugi immediately swung around and pulled his pants down a little to fish out his tail "This thing has been bugging me all day!" he growled. Joey might have laughed if he wasn't too busy gawking "You have a tail too?" he asked almost dryly. Yugi sighed and took off his jacket "Yeah, I do…"<br>"Whoa!" Joey exclaimed "Yugi, have you been hitting the gym?" he asked. Yugi gave his friend a weird look before looking down at his arms, his muscles were a lot more defined now "No I haven't!" Yugi cried "Oh Joey, I've been transforming throughout the day!" he lifted up his shirt his abs were defined but not overly so and he was starting to develop pecks as well. He sighed and pulled his shirt back down.  
>"Come on…the sooner we do this the better…but I'm worried…" he said facing his friend. Joey tilted his head "Why?"<br>Yugi motioned to the window "It's a new moon." He stated. Joey followed his gesture "Is the moon important?" he asked. Rather than explain everything Yugi just nodded.  
>"Ok well, what first?" Joey asked. Yugi looked around the messy room "Well lets clear the floor…" he said and started to pick up his friend clothes before throwing them in a corner and out of the way. Joey followed his lead and picked up trash. It took a little while but it was finally done. They now stood on a hard wood floor rather than dirty laundry.<br>"Ok, now we will need all the floor space so let's move the furniture just a little…" Yugi moved over to Joey's bed "Help me just turn this on its side?" Joey went over to him and put his arms under the frame of the bed. Together they lifted it on its side instantly opening up the floor to them.  
>"Good." He said and walked over to Joey's desk opening a drawer and getting a marker. Making sure it wasn't permanent he uncapped it and bent down drawing a careful circle. Joey, not knowing what to do in this point and time sat down on his pockets to watch. First Yugi drew a simple star but then started to complicate it with different twists and turns. He stood in the middle and nodded to himself with a smirk. He turned back to his friend "Any candles?" he asked.<br>"Uh, maybe…" he said doubtfully. Still he got up and left the room while Yugi fixed his circle here and there.  
>Joey walked back in the room "I only got three white ones…is that enough?" he asked lifting his hands to offer his friend the candles. Yugi took all three "That's perfect." He commented and placed them in a triangle like shape on the outside of the circle. When done he walked back to the middle of the circle "Remember Joey, you can't have any doubts…" he said looking at him. The smaller teen looked at his friend sadly, would his friend be able to do this without some kind of doubt? After all it was his first incantation. Joey looked thoughtful for a moment "Well, then answer a question for me?" he asked. Yugi nodded.<br>"There aren't going to be any demons coming out right?" he asked. Yugi smiled, a typical question.  
>"No, Joey. I don't practice black magic, I do white magic." He explained "See the star? You're going to stand at the bottom of it so the star is right side up. A right side up star represents the five elements." Joey gave him a puzzled look "But there are only four…" he said but sounded unsure "Water, earth, fire, and air."<br>"And light." Yugi said pointing to the top of the star "Some people call it god, other cultures called it iron or metal." Yugi shrugged. Joey hummed and took his spot at the bottom.  
>"Ok, that makes sense…" he commented. Yugi sat down on his knees in the middle of his art work. He gave a shaky breath "Ready?" he asked his friend.<br>"Close your eyes…" Yugi directed quietly. Joey complied and patiently waited for the next instruction. Yugi lowered his own eyes and started to feel the energy bubble up inside him, it was stronger than usual which made him slightly fearful. Was this another part of the transformation?  
>"Concentrate on flowing your energy to the circle." Yugi whispered again. He opened his third eye to see if Joey was doing it correctly. His friends aura was light blue and it slowly crawled to the circle. Joey furrowed his eye brows, it was a little painful to watch but at least he got the concept. Yugi looked around the circle so see it starting to glow, it was dim but there. He wanted so badly to share this with his friend but he knew all too well without his third eye opened he would not be able to see the light show. Yugi closed his own eyes and thought about what he wanted the energies to do, he felt heat wrap around him and his tail and ears tingled.<br>"That's it Joey, keep doing that." Yugi praised and as soon as he did the energy of his friend started to flow faster. The heat of their combined energies made him break out in a small sweat. His muscles started to become sore but it was a small price to pay. He saw the tear in the veil where his ears and tail were revealed. They energy levels seemed to have reached its peak as nothing else happened. Yugi looked up trying to will the energy to increase.  
>'No, no, no!' he screamed in his head. His worries about the new moon were correct; he just didn't have the energy for this. His eyes widened as a sudden burst of yellow energy ran through his body. He let out a blood curdling scream as he was sent backwards. All the energies scattered about and the circle was broken. Yugi looked back up and let out a loud wolf like growl, someone had sabotaged them! Did they know about him? Why were they trying to stop them!<br>"Yugi! Are you ok?" Joey called and ran over to him.  
>"Y-yeah…I think so…" Joey looked up and then back down "Did you see that lightning bolt?" he asked loudly. Yugi looked over at his friend with surprise, so the energy was strong enough that even Joey, without his third eye, could see it?<br>"That wasn't lightning; it was someone else's energy. It seems someone doesn't want me to change back…" he growled. He shakily got to his feet with the help of his friend. Joey lowered the bed again and made him lay down.  
>"Just lay there, that must of hurt a lot if you got sent flying! I'll call your grandpa and let him know you are staying with me…" he said and left the room again. Yugi sighed once his friend left "Who would even know about this? Other then…Yami?" Yugi shot straight up "Did he actually believe me? And now…? But why?"He shook his head harshly from side to side, it didn't connect, it just didn't add up.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Yugi's sleep was restless; he woke up every half hour worrying about Yami. Was it really him who wanted to prevent him from changing back? He was the only other person he told, he had to be! Once the sun came up Yugi gave and got out of Joey's bed. The blonde mumbled something and covered his head with the blankets. Yugi sighed, and walked out of the room to make them breakfast. Joey's dad hadn't come home that night for god knows what reason. He quietly padded his way to the fridge and then the cupboards. Sadly there wasn't much there to eat, there was some granola bars, cereal that was almost gone, chips, and a few boxes of noodles. In the fridge there was some ripe fruit, milk, and hotdogs. Yugi's ears twitched annoyed, no wonder Joey was so thin. He grabbed the cereal box, poured Joey a bowl and then himself a smaller bowl. His stomach growled in protest, these changes he was going through were making him extra tired and now he felt like he hadn't eaten in a week. Though the fact he slept all day and didn't eat anything yesterday probably wasn't helping.  
>He flicked his grey and cream colored tail as he spun around and walked back to Joey's room. He shook the larger teen on the shoulder but only earned a groan. Joey rolled away from him and put a pillow over his head. Yugi narrowed his eyes and took the pillow away "Wake up, you have school." Yugi stated. The blonde teen rolled on his stomach with his head down, after a few moments Yugi could hear the words "ok" mumbled into the mattress.<br>The amethyst boy smiled and walked back out to eat the cereal that his stomach was screaming for. Now that it wasn't dark Yugi looked around the small apartment. The kitchen was connected to the living room, there was a bathroom that was connected to the living room while the two bedrooms were near the kitchen. The whole place was in tatters, there was garbage on the floor, the walls were stained as well as the floors. The couch looked like an angry cat had gotten to it, and some of Joey's cupboards didn't even shut right. Yugi sat down at one of the chairs facing the dining table and began to eat as Joey got up.  
>His cereal was gone before Joey even walked out of the room. He sighed softly when his stomach growled for more. Normally a bowl that size would have been fine, guess he was going to have to go to the store. Joey stumbled out of his room pulling up one of his socks, but at least he was dressed. Yugi wasn't going to get to go to school today, again. This was going to be a problem if he couldn't fix it. He wasn't allowed to wear a hood in school and he couldn't think of any other way to hide his ears.<br>Joey gulped down his bowl then ran to brush his teeth. Yugi followed him and leaned against the frame of the door grabbing his arm "So what happened to your dad? Why isn't he here?" Yugi asked softly. His friend grunted before spitting out the blue colored foam of his toothpaste "I dunno." He said simply. Yugi hummed and turned out of the bathroom, it would be bad for him to be here when and if his father got home. But he couldn't simply go home either, is he did that his grandfather would expect him to help around the shop and he couldn't do that either… What if some little kid pulled his hood off? Or his grandpa scolded him for wearing it around the customers, saying he was scaring them off.  
>As if hearing his thoughts, Joey patted him on the back "Don't worry, you can just hide out in my room today. My dad doesn't go in there, at least I don't think he does…" he said looking a little unsure but shrugged it off "Just hide in the closet or something. I'm sure those ears will hear him coming." He said poking at one of his silver colored wolf ears making it twitch.<br>Yugi looked to his friend and smiled sadly before nodding "Ok…Thanks." Joey gave him a sympathetic look "Don't worry. We'll fix this." He said softly patting his friend on the head before heading to the door. He waved one more time and then left for school. Yugi watched the door close slowly, alone was something he didn't want to be at the moment but he couldn't ask his friend to stay away from school. He walked back to Joey's room and hid under the mess that was his covers letting himself fall asleep once more.

He woke back up to the call of crows. He grumbled making an opening for him to see out from under the covers. The room was filled with a mix between orange and pink telling him it must be sunset. Perking his ears he listened for any signs of life within the house but didn't hear anything. Neither Joey nor his dad was home. The small wolf boy slowly slipped out of the bed and went to look out of the window. His ears lowered and a small whine came from his throat. Joey was probably in detention since studying never seemed to be his thing. He sat there staring at the window for awhile longer when the thought of Yami came to him once again. He lowered his eye lids, was it possible for Yami to even do that? He hadn't talked to him since yesterday morning, perhaps he should. Was he even worried about him? In either case Yugi had to go outside to stretch his legs, he slept all day yesterday and now today and he was starting to feel better. Maybe the transformations were at a halt? Or maybe there was no more to this.  
>It had been two days since all this started… memories of the day he had grown ears and a tail came back to him. He still had no idea how or even why this had happened. He wasn't even sure he could change it back. Walking over to his jacket he picked it up and threw it on snapping his hood up. He also reached around and stuffed his tail back in his pants leg.<br>'I just need some fresh air…' he thought to himself. But in the back of his mind he knew he wanted to speak with Yami again. He just wasn't sure he could do it…  
>He stepped outside and filled his lungs with the chilled air letting it out in a slow breath. He shut the door softly and started his way down the side walk.<br>His mind kept on racing about how he could re-explain all of this to Yami. When he had first explained it, he looked so angry with him… And maybe even a little disappointed. The small teen couldn't bear the thought of his first crush hating him. Eventually he found himself in front Yami's house once more. But everything was dark, it didn't look as if anyone was home. Yugi sighed with defeat, his shoulders slumping forward a little. Then a thought struck him "Why do I have to tell Yami anyway? I'm going to fix this right?" he whispered to himself lifting his head again. "Right." He answered himself. This was going to be fixed and once it was everything could go back to normal. He turned around with a new found confidence and started to walk away. He didn't have to talk to Yami now, it was going to be just fine.

The sun had set, and the night shrouded everything in the dark once more. Yugi had walked the long way here so he could think of the best way to talk to Yami, but he ended up not speaking to him at all. Now he just needed to get to Joey's house.  
>"Maybe I'll just cut through the park." He sighed turning on his heel. The park was always creepy at night, but it would cut the time it took to Joey's by a few minutes at the least. Not much but it was still something and Yugi didn't want to be walking around at night by himself anyway. He looked around the tall oak trees that were in various areas. Their leaved rustled in the wind somehow making Yugi feel better. It was a comforting sound and one of his favorites. Though he liked the sound of quaking aspen better.<br>He stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked up at the stars. Everything was quiet around him, he listened to his own footsteps on the side walk that cut right through the park. He listened to the rhythm for awhile until the rhythm was cut by another pair of footsteps. He looked backwards and saw a man in a black hoodie. Where did he come from? Yugi was already half way through the park and he hadn't seen anyone follow him. But he shrugged it off and looked forward again. It was a little creepy to be followed by only one guy at night but he was sure it was just a coincidence. Until he heard another pair of footsteps and then one more, and they seemed to be getting louder. Yugi tried to brush it off but he couldn't ignore the fact that his heart was starting to race and fear spiked in him.  
>'Ok, just calm down. I'm sure it's nothing!' he thought to himself, but for the sake of his mind he decided to look backwards one more time. When he did he expected to see them just walking along like normal people but instead his eyes connected with the first man that had followed him who was now only an arm's reach away from him. He felt his heart leap at just the sight but he gasped out when he suddenly reached forward and grabbed him by the arm. He said nothing to him just dragged him towards the nearest oak tree pushing him against it roughly.<br>"Uhg!" Yugi looked back up after the initial pain of being man handled left. The other two guys came forward on either side of him. The one in the middle repositioned his hand over his stomach to keep him there.  
>Yugi's heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest, his eyes wide with fear.<br>"So, this one ok?" the one who had him pinned to a tree asked. The other two looked him up at down with greedy eyes before nodding their head. What were they planning? The one off Yugi's right spoke up this time "Normally we go for girls, but we thought about doing something different." He said while rubbing Yugi's hips suggestively with one hand. The small teen's large eyes only grew larger; they were going to rape him? Just for the sake of doing something different! Anger flashed through him and an unexpected growl ripped through his throat. The others looked at him weird but it didn't faze them. While the one in the middle held him fast to the tree the other two started to fiddle with his pants. He felt every one of his heart beats now until a particularly strong one made his body pulsate. It almost hurt it was so powerful, he looked down and let his hair cover his eyes. He felt his mind start to haze. Another pulsation rippled through him and he bared his teeth while the muscles in his hands tightened as if he was ready to strike.  
>"Get off of me." Yugi growled. It was unlike him and he had no idea where this confidence was coming from. He heard them snicker "looks like we got a fighter." One laughed. His body was pulsating more and the growls in his throat were at a constant. Something was taking over.<br>Each time his body pulsated he lost another piece of his mind and his vision was starting to darken.  
>"Get off." He growled once more. It was obvious that the three men were starting to get a little anxious but still they held their ground. Yugi's muscles bunched up as he leaned forward over his attackers hand and before he even knew what was happening he slashed his hand upwards. He felt his claws rip through fabric as well as flesh. Blood splashed up towards him and he heard a cry of pain. He wasn't in control of his body anymore.<br>The man let go and fell backwards holding his now open abdomen in pain. Yugi watched the blood pour from him with interest. The other men stood looking at first their friend then him with shocked eyes but soon anger replaced the shock and they came after him. Yugi smirked as if he was enjoying this and lunged at the one to his right, the one who had touched him. He felt his hood fly off as well but it didn't matter anymore. He sent his attacker and him both to the ground but before either of them hit the cold concrete of the sidewalk he buried his fangs into the crook of his neck while he thrust his claws into his stomach with strength he didn't even know he had. Crimson liquid sprouted upwards in slow motion from where he had bit him. He removed his hand and placed it on the man's chest pushing himself upwards into a flip. He landed on one hand and spun himself around before pushing off again in another flip and landing in a squatting position looking at the last man standing. He stood slowly and watched as the man ran in fear for his life.  
>Yugi bared his teeth in a sickly smile "You won't get away." He stated in a gruff, almost demonic voice before snarling and running after him but he didn't make it five steps before he felt a hand grip his ankle, stopping him. He looked backwards to see the man he first attacked, one hand still holding tightly onto his stomach. Yugi smiled "Still alive are you?" he asked. He saw the man's eyes widen at his words. Yugi ripped his leg away from him before bringing it back into his chest making the man roll away. Yugi walked slowly over to him and spread his claws bringing them down with frightening speed opening another gash on the man's neck. The last of the man's blood spilled from him, Yugi tsked and turned looking for the third one but the he had gotten away.<br>The rest of his vision started to come back to him and he felt dizzy. He slid to the ground and held his head with a groan of pain. The control had come back and he looked backwards at his work gasping as the full force of what he had just done hit him. He backed away from the two dead men on the ground and looked at his hands. They were covered in their blood and his once white jacket was also splattered with the red goo.  
>His thought process seemed to stop and he felt cold. The small breeze that whispered through the trees chilled him. Large diamond tears started to roll down his face but he remained expressionless as he looked on at his work. Slowly he stood up and walked towards the lights of the city. He couldn't go back to Joey's looking like this, but he couldn't very well go home either. So he wandered around in the cold.<p>

The streets were empty, but he could hear the boom of the music in the clubs and the clinks of drinks smashing together at the bars. Yellow light from the street lights splashed down onto the side walk. His tears hadn't stopped and he had made no efforts to clean himself. Now that all of his adrenaline was gone, his head pounded and his muscles ached from being used in a way they hadn't before. Ears twitching back and forth listening to everything around him, but what he hadn't expected to hear was Yami's voice.  
>"Come on already dad!" he shouted over the music. A door just in front of Yugi swung open and showed Yami dragging his father away from a club, obviously drunk. Yami glanced over at him before looking back at his dad however shock took over the expression on his face and he snapped his eyes back to his friend. Quickly shoving his dad back into the club he shut the door and called over to his friend "Yugi!" He took a few steps over to him but Yugi had reached his limit for tonight. His legs suddenly gave on him, he whispered Yami's name as he started to fall, his vision blacking out on him. Feeling his body connect with the concrete he let the darkness take over, he couldn't stay awake anymore.<p> 


End file.
